TV Alert: “Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” premieres tonight!

Dear fans of Joss Whedon, Ming-Na Wen, superheroes, and general awesomeness: The night we’ve been waiting for all summer is finally upon us — the premiere of Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.! We don’t think there are any lesbian/bi characters on the show yet, but we do know that Joss Whedon has written more well-rounded, kick-ass women than any other dude in television history (and that Ming Na’s gay-for-pay history includes sci-fi cred) so we’re going all in with The Avengers TV spin-off, which will tell the story of Agent Phil Coulson assembling a crack team of human agents to investigate superhuman phenomenon.

Here, see for yourself:

Ming-Na plays Agent Malinda May, an ace pilot and weapons expert; Chloe Bennet plays Skye, a witty, superhero-obsessed hacker; and Elizabeth Henstridge plays Agent Jemma Simmon, a human/alien life scientist. (You know, kind of like Dr. Lauren Lewis for Wonder Women.) Plus, perpetual AfterEllen Hot 100 favorite Cobie Smulders is in the pilot episode, at least, reprising her role as Maria Hill. Here’s hoping she’ll join the cast for real in season two after How I Met Your Mother is put to bed.

I’ll be recapping the show here at AfterEllen, and we’ll be doing our awesome reader/writer group-tweet along with the show with the hashtag #superqueeros.